12/05/2016 Weather for the Week Ahead

Good news. We are confident about developments up till the weekend.

A lot of dry weather on the horizon.

What happens next week is hugely uncertain,

as we will see in a moment.

Thundery downpours have blighted some southern parts of the UK

over the last couple of days

but that threat diminishes as low pressure eases southwards.

We look to the north.

There is a cold front approaching and that will bring chillier

air to all of us over the next couple of days.

It is approaching the north of Scotland during

the course of the day, bringing patchy rain here,

the odd shower to the south from that low pressure.

But in between, a lot of fine weather on Thursday,

with some pleasant sunshine.

In comes the cold front, bringing cloud and the odd shower

and pretty low temperatures to Shetland. Just eight degrees.

Some of the cloud filtering on to north-eastern coasts,

keeping it cool.

But most places in the sunshine further west will have a nice

day, up into the low 20s in a good few places, a marked improvement

on the last couple of days across southern and central areas.

Still the odd shower across the south-west

but they will be isolated compared with recent days.

Through the evening and night, this cold front heads southwards.

Not much weather on it, maybe the odd shower but importantly,

it will introduce notably chillier air through Friday across many

northern areas.

By Friday afternoon, some parts of Scotland and north-east

England will be struggling to get out of single figures.

One more day of relative warmth further south,

we might just scrape 19 or even 20 degrees.

But as we head into night-time, it will turn cold for all of us.

Some of us on Saturday morning could be waking up to a touch of frost.

However, I am optimistic that through this weekend,

a lot of us will see a lot of fine weather

because high pressure will be building in.

Although the air is cool, there will be a lot of sunshine.

A bit of sunshine makes all the difference, doesn't it?

So for the weekend, to sum up, a lot of dry weather.

In the sunshine it will feel quite pleasant but a reminder

those nights will be cold, with an ongoing risk of frost.

Here's Saturday's picture,

still that northerly wind going down the east coast.

You will feel that if you're exposed to that wind.

In the sunshine, further west,

14 or 15 degrees actually shouldn't feel too bad.

More of the same on Sunday.

We still have that northerly breeze affecting more eastern

coastal areas so coolest here, warmest

and sunniest the further south and west you go.

Not much changing as we start the new working week.

That northerly breeze is weakening all the time

so light winds across the country, dry just about nationwide

and in the sunshine, feeling pretty good.

It'll feel even better, I think,

as we go through the next couple of days. A warming trend.

We lose the blues and we gain the yellows.

What happens next is very uncertain, as I hinted at the start.

If you have been watching my broadcasts the last

couple of days, you will know a lot hinges on this area of low

pressure developing in the western Atlantic.

The track of that will be guided by this little kink in the jet stream.

The exact shape of that kink will be all important.

Depending on the shape of that kink,

the low pressure could track its way to the north, it could

track its way to the south, or it could head straight towards us.

It does look as if that low pressure will be

heading in our direction later on next week.

After a dry start to the week, there is

an increasing chance of some rain developing from the west.

But watch this space for details.

Then it looks as if, as we head into the end of May,

the weather might begin to settle down and begin to warm up as well.

We'll update you tomorrow.